With a pint of Green Chartreuse, ain’t nothing seem right…

In between brainstorming what I would like to blog about over these next few months, procrastinating what I’ll actually blog about over these next few months, on top of not actually writing or researching anything, a cheeky little Chartreuse competition came about the other week, coupled with an interesting little twist…

Cutting straight to the basics, Chartreuse is a French based liqueur made by a couple of monks in Voiron. The green stuff is 55%, massively herbaceous, natural in colour and has a reputed 130 natural herb and plant flavourings. The other stuff – yellow Chartreuse – is a little lighter and a little sweater at 40%. As well as the aforementioned, the monks also produce an extra-aged chartreuse – Vieillissement Exceptionnellement Prolongé, or V.E.P Chartreuse for short – and a herbal elixir, with the latter being used to soak a sugar cube before ingestion, helping to settle the stomach . Chartreuse has also made several appearances in popular culture – Tom Waits’ song ‘Till The Money Runs Out’ being a personal favourite. As a cocktail ingredient, the green and yellow varieties are popular components in both classic cocktails and more contemporary and modern day libations.

Jamie Mac, one of the bartenders at The Raconteur in Edinburgh’s well-to-do area of Stockbridge, and where the competition was held, presided over the final judgement along with the UK Chartreuse ambassador Matthew Dakers. The main judges, on the other hand, were also those who took part. The competition, which took a conscious nod towards ‘Come Dine With Me’, made sure that all those who competed were also responsible for judging their fellow competitors.

And the result? A respectful and well-executed competition, which gave bartenders an insight into the world of judgment and marking criterias with no petulant or predictable marking efforts that would favour the marker – or his fellow friend or colleague – in the quest for victory

The event threw up some interesting drinks, some of which included Iron Bru syrup, tonic reductions, tequila, homemade falernum and came in the form of blazers, fizzes, flips, and…er… general straight up drinks.

With other heats in Leeds, London and Brighton, Sam Watson from the Bon Vivant and some northern-accented, French-clad dude – who also happened to relatively tattooed – will be representing Edinburgh at the finals in London in February.

Some daft heavily tattooed French dude.

Hors d’oeuvre of the day (Tom Walker, Bramble, Edinburgh)

35ml Green Chartreuse

15ml Islay Scotch

7.5ml Kummel

7.5ml DOM Bénédictine

15ml Lime Juice

10ml Lemon Juice

Dash of egg white

Dash of tonic water

Dash of absinthe

Add all ingredients apart from the tonic water and absinthe to a cocktail shaker and dry shake. Add ice, shake hard and double strain into an absinthe rinsed glass. Top up with tonic water and serve.

Herbacious, smokey, sour, dry, with hints of sweet earth and bitterness. Taking a nod towards the Gin Fizz, and a bigger nod towards the Morning Glory Fizz, both of which fall into that anti-fogmatizer/gloomlifter/hangover cure category, the drink is surprisingly light and refreshing. Saying that, despite wanting to stay away from scotch and gin to create something a little more original, I gave in and added a little of Laphroaig Quarter Cask to give another edge to the drink.

Sam Watson doing his 'thang'

Voila (Sam Watson, Bon Vivant, Edinburgh)

25ml Green Chartreuse

25ml lime

25ml Courvoisier Exclusif

20ml Grand Marnier

12.5 ml Yellow Chartreuse

Dash of egg white

Orange Bitters

Add all ingredients – apart from the bitters – to a cocktail shaker and dry shake. Add ice, shake vigorously and double strain into a coupette. Garnish with a basil leaf, and spray the outside of the glass with orange bitters. Serve

Complex and long, just like Sam Watson himself. Cognac and Chartreuse glide over the pallet with ease, with orange in the foreground and the lime adding a slightly less acidic mouth feel then first anticipated.

To quote maker Saw Watson, the drink is dedicated to all the French girls he’ll probably never hook up with. Voila.